Republican Senators Refer Christopher Steele For Criminal Prosecution

The first criminal referral for the Russia probe is ex-British intelligence agent Christopher Steele.

Republican Senators have issued their first known criminal referral for the Russia probe. In a surprise to many, the first criminal referral is is for ex-British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, the man behind the proverbial 'Steele Dossier'.

Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a senior committee member, told the Justice Department they had reason to believe that a former British spy, Christopher Steele, lied to federal authorities about his contacts with reporters regarding information in the dossier, and they urged the department to investigate. The decision by Mr. Grassley and Mr. Graham to single out the former intelligence officer behind the dossier — and not anyone who may have taken part in the Russian interference — infuriated Democrats and raised the stakes in the growing partisan battle over the investigationsinto Mr. Trump, his campaign team and Russia.

Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 MILLION in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank.

During the 2015-2016 election season, Ukrainian-born billionaire Leonard "Len" Blavatnik contributed $6.35 million to leading Republican candidates and incumbent senators.

MITCH MCCONNELL was the TOP RECIPIENT of Blavatnik's donations, collecting $2.5 million for his GOP Senate Leadership Fund under the names of two of Blavatnik's holding companies, Access Industries and AI Altep Holdings, according to Federal Election Commission documents and

MARCO RUBIO’s Conservative Solutions PAC and his Florida First Project received $1.5 million through Blavatnik's two holding companies. Other high dollar recipients of funding from Blavatnik were PACS representing

Wisconsin GovernorSCOTT WALKER at $1.1 million,

South Carolina SenatorLINDSAY GRAHAM at $800,000,

Ohio GovernorJOHN KASICH at $250,000

Arizona SenatorJOHN MCCAIN at $200,000.

In January, Quartz reported that Blavatnik donated another $1 million to Trump's Inaugural Committee.

Ironically, the shared address of Blavatnik's companies is directly across the street from Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in New York.Len Blavatnik, considered to be one of the richest men in Great Britain, holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and the U.K. He is known for his business savvy and generous philanthropy, but not without controversy